Personal Finance Links (Catching Up Edition)

Last week, I didn’t give you much more than just a few links. So today, I’m going to try to write twice as much as I usually do for these round-ups. Since I tend to ramble on about topics that aren’t related to personal finance here, I’ve decided to make it easier and categorize the ideas. If you are not interested in the section, just skip over it to get to the next section or head straight for the links at the end…

Television

• Men of a Certain Age – I may have mentioned it before, but I love this show.
• The Jersey Shore – With the start of the second season, I decided I should look into the first
• Rescue Me Landmark Episode – Even though it was a rip off of The Hangover, I thoroughly enjoyed the recent episode titled “Blackout.” It struck me as one of those very special episodes that worked.

Things I Don’t Get (But Everyone Else Does)

• Google Android – My wife got the new HTC Evo last week. I played with it for a few hours and really didn’t see the draw. I’m either completely under the Palm WebOS usability spell, I don’t know Android well enough, or it simply isn’t as good. From what I’ve heard from everyone else, I’m inclined believe it is the middle option… with a little of the first one.
• Inception – It seems like everyone else except for one friend loves this movie. I come out of there hardpressed to think of a movie that I disliked more. Miss Congeniality was looking watchable. Like the Android above, it’s a shame, because I was sure I’d love it.
• The Jersey Shore – See above…
• Beer Tasting – See below…

Boston Sports

• Red Sox Injuries – I don’t know who had it worse, the 2008 Patriots losing Brady and almost the entire defense of the 2010 Red Sox who have lost just about everyone. Amazingly both teams seem destined for the same fate… a great record that would have led to the playoffs in any of the last 20-25 years.
• Mike Lowell – There are only a few times in a player’s career where a first at bat of the game leads to a standing ovation. Mike Lowell experienced it last week and he found himself still a Red Sox player despite being nearly traded a dozen times and released another half dozen. I can’t imagine how he felt when he answered the crowd’s ovation with a homerun on the very first pitch. Not only was it one of the most emotional home runs I’ve seen, but one of the most emotional moments I’ve seen in any sport.
• Shaq is a Celtic – I realize that he’s not the Shaq of old, and he could be a problem in the clubhouse. However, the Celtics need a center and he is a big body that clog of space in the middle. For the price they paid, the veteran minimum, it is fairly low risk with a decent upside.
• Patriots – Football is back, and I couldn’t be more excited. The Patriots have a number of holes, but they also have a lot of young promising players. In previous seasons, I thought the Patriots were the favorites to win the Super Bowl. It is a different kind of excitement watching those players develop, but exciting nonetheless.

Beer/Wine Tasting

• Beer – My wife and I had a reason to go into San Francisco last week. Typically, I go into San Francisco 3-4 times a year. Since we were near the Toronado Pub, which has a pile of specialty beers… it seemed like a good time to do some beer tasting. So we went to Beer Advocate’s Top Beers. We split four of the top beers: Pliny the Elder, Supplication, Consecration, and Blind Pig IPA. Neither one of us found any of the beers very good, but I didn’t mind the Consecration too much (call it the Buffy the Vampire Slayer subliminal influence). We ended up leaving a couple of beers half-filled. This is clearly something that I don’t get that everyone else seems to.
• Sonoma Wine – My wife and I had the opportunity to go to Sonoma to get the VIP treatment from a prestigious wine buyer. As such we got to see the best of Ridge, Ferrari-Carano and Hartford Court wineries. The Ferrari-Carano winery was by far the best… beautiful with great wines that averaged around $18. Hartford Court had great wines, but they averaged around $45… not a great value in my opinion. Ridge was in between… not great prices, and not a lot of great wine.

Personal Finance Articles

Money Writers:

• Brip Blap posts making time for the details.
• Digerati Life blogs DIY projects to save money: should you take them on?
• Frugal Dad asks what will retirement look like for younger generations?
• Million Dollar Journey offers up 6 ways to invest in gold.
• Money Smart Life discusses buy or rent ““ which is better for you?
• My Dollar Plan has been sucked back into obsessive “couponning”.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary says stay home to $ave.

Top PF Posts:

• Free Money Finance presents seven ways to ruin your resume.
• The Smarter Wallet talks about how to make money with affiliate programs.
• Learn how to tackle back-to-school shopping without breaking the bank at Grad Money Matters.
• PT Money goes over mutual fund basics.
• One Frugal Girl asks not frugal or not frugal enough?
• Man vs. Debt says if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
• Experiments in Finance says it’s just not worth clipping coupons anymore.
• Darwin’s Finance asks how much does it really cost to move?
• Don’t Mess With Taxes reports that the effort to repeal 1099 reporting fails.
• The Simple Dollar Plan blogs the family that saves together.
• Consumerist shares 27 of the sickest things you’ve done to save money.